Part of the delight in spending time in my world is that there is always an abundance of information to absorb (or in some cases, to discard). Bouncing around from one fishing hole to another certainly broadens one’s perspective on a variety of different subjects, not just methods of fishing or local customs, but people who are making a difference.

While attending the Bisbee East Cape Offshore tournament recently, I chatted with some of the members of 62 different teams who were participating in the event; as always, they provided insights into both new and old tricks.

Matt Clifton, Scorpion Sportfishing, shared his recent success using a new deep-sea fishing planer. He reported that it seems to be working well for a variety of fish lurking deeper in the water column and that it was a lot more manageable than a downrigger.

For the record, since we were using them over three decades ago, along with surface planers to spread the pattern, let’s put that item in the “some things old” column. My Baja fishing buddy, Don Sloan, and I also tried them on the beach slow-trolling them from an ATV to fish with ladyfish for roosters in the ’90s.

My friend Ken Matney, owner of Hi-Five Lures, after insisting that heavier billfish lures were the key to success, proved it when many joyous teams won large sums of money fishing with them while competing in Bisbee and other tournaments over the years.

An intuition caused Matney to conclude that lighter lures might be better swimmers. To eliminate the weight, he replaced resin with foam reducing the weight significantly, and to add to their appeal, he offered the new ultra-violet, brightly colored lures in different sizes. That success would be in the “some things new” column.

On the heels of her remarkable success in coordinating a recycle program literally from the ground up, Theresa Comber, owner and operator of Baja’s Awesome Sportfishing and East Cape RV Resort in Los Barriles, has moved on to her next project and could hardly contain her excitement when I met up with her.

“We taught 100 Mexican children how to swim,” she blurted out as I approached her and husband Sean, along with the rest of her team at the ECO registration.

“Although the kids live on the shores of the Sea of Cortez, they use the sea to keep cool, but don’t know how to swim properly. There is no community pool or YMCA here, where many kids would normally learn to swim.”

“We had hoped to create “awe-inspired” swimmers and snorkelers. The results were incredible — better than we could have ever imagined. We’re teaching them to use masks and snorkels and when on their faces, their entire dog paddling bodies come to the surface, stretch out, float, and they move forward. In the midst of swim lessons, we’re teaching about reefs and reef fish, not just fish to be caught and eaten.”

“We’ll take them to a reef and many will see reef fish for the first time. We want them to understand this sea is one of the most bio-diverse bodies of water on the planet and it’s theirs, in their back yard. We hope they’ll experience Jacques Cousteau’s ‘World’s Aquarium’ here in the Sea of Cortez.”

Once again, Theresa Comber has introduced “some things new” to the area. Congratu­lations, Theresa, Shaun and all her local volunteers and supporters!

There is another exciting project, that I will be following over the next few months … IGFA is joining hands across the border with the Stars & Stripes tournament organizers as a part of its 80th anniversary initiative to teach 100,000 kids to fish around the globe by the end of 2019.

Their goal is to assist and encourage many local Baja tackle shops together with local captains and crews to offer classes where the children are taught the craft of generations before them — actual hands-on fishing lessons in courses at the tackle shops to ensure that the art of their forefathers lives on. Not certain which column that should go in — the “some things old” or the “some things new” column?

WE HAD HOPED to create “awe-inspired” swimmers and snorkelers. The results were incredible — better than we could have ever imagined.

TO ELIMINATE THE weight, he replaced resin with foam reducing the weight significantly, and to add to their appeal, he offered the new ultra-violet, brightly colored lures in different sizes.

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